A Timeline Of Innovation

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

by Greg Kishbaugh

The history of the flexo industry is intriguing not only for how far it has progressed, but for the odds it needed to surpass in order to attain its current status as a world-class printing process. A new infographic released from Anderson & Vreeland celebrates the history of flexo while also turning an eye toward flexo’s future. The industry began somewhat inauspiciously. The infographic explains the origin of the industry lies in the first patented press being built in Liverpool, England by Bibby Baron and Sons. It came, sadly, to be known as “Bibby’s Folly” because the ink smeared so badly on the original model.

In time, aniline dyes come and go, rubber plates are introduced, followed a decade and a half later by liquid photopolymer.The infographic breaks down the modern market into several interesting statistics, not least of which is that flexo, having overcome a host of liabilities over the past century, now controls a 60 percent market share in the printed packaging market. Of the $260 billion that flexo accounts for in the printed packaging market, approximately $125 billion of the market share comes from corrugated, followed by flexible packaging with $81 billion, labels and tags with $56 billion and folding carton with a very distant $1.5 billion. A&V also takes a snapshot of future developments that will influence the industry, including digital printing and complete digital workflow.